Christoph Waltz has signed on to star in Billy Wilder & Me, an adaptation of Jonathan Coe‘s similarly-named book Mr. Wilder & Me. Stephen Frears and Christopher Hampton are working on the adaptation, which will mark their third collaboration after Dangerous Liaisons and Cheri.
Waltz will play Wilder what’s part coming-of-age story, and part true-to-life portrait of the iconic Hollywood director. In the summer of 1977, a young woman begins working for famed director Billy Wilder and his screenwriter Iz Diamond on a Greek island during the filming of Fedora.
When she follows Wilder to Germany to continue the shoot, she finds herself joining him on a journey of memory into the heart of his family history.
Wilder is widely regarded as one of the best directors of the classic Hollywood era. He helmed films such as The Apartment, Double Indemnity, Ace In The Hole, and Some Like It Hot. While this isn’t your typical biopic, there should be plenty of interest in a movie about the man who was the at the center of so many beloved films.
Waltz said in a statement: “Billy Wilder said ‘You have to have a dream so you can get up in the morning.’ A Stephen Frears movie from a Christopher Hampton script produced by Jeremy Thomas should do the trick for me.”
Waltz will next be seen in Guillermo Del Toro‘s stop-motion version of Pinocchio, not the Disney live-action version that’s being directed by Robert Zemeckis. Del Toro’s one will arrive on Netflix this December. Waltz is also currently working on Jeffrey Walker‘s The Portable Door and Walter Hill‘s Dead For A Dollar.
Production on Billy Wilder & Me is expected to commence in Greece, Munich and Paris shortly. Casting for the female lead is still ongoing.
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